


Midoriya Izuku. Quirk: Shift

by Ezallamir



Series: Through The Looking Glass [2]
Category: Prey (Video Game 2017), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Gen, Good Parent Midoriya Inko, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Medical Experimentation, Memory Loss, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Panic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:21:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25234576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ezallamir/pseuds/Ezallamir
Summary: Midoriya Izuku broke the four known facts of quirk research within the first ten years of his life.
Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Inko & Midoriya Izuku
Series: Through The Looking Glass [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1820905
Comments: 14
Kudos: 178





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short prologue. Also I have no idea how/what to tag, sorry.

The birth of the glowing child in Qingqing launched a boom in genetic exploration into the inheritance of quirks. All other scientific research was put on hold as society faced a paradigm shift in what it meant to be human and what it meant to be more. Mutant. Super. Meta. Quirked. While the world waged their war against those they deemed  _ wrong _ , geneticists and biologists saw clearly what others refused to acknowledge: this was the next stage in human evolution. 

They ignored the social turmoil and focused solely on this brand new branch of genetic expression. Such intense research lead to several known facts:

  1. Quirks can manifest at birth, but typically show around the age of four.



  1. Children manifest one of their parents’ quirks, or a fusion of the two, baring a rare mutation that is entirely unrelated to their genetic lineage.



  1. While training may unlock new facets of a quirk, quirks do not change in form as the child ages. 



  1. Children with two joints in their pinky toe will not manifest a quirk.



Midoriya Izuku broke all of these “facts” within the first ten years of his life.


	2. Small Object Manipulation

Midoriya Izuku   
Age: 6 months   
Birthday: 7/15  
Height: 66cm  
Quirk: Small Object Manipulation—Emitter classification quirk that allows him to manipulate small objects within eyesight. Manipulation is limited to push, pull, and small movements such as flipping a light switch or pressing buttons. Activated at 6 months.

  
  


Raising a baby was difficult. Raising a baby alone was even more difficult. “You are not alone,” Inko said to no one as she mixed up a bottle. “Hisashi is _missing_ , not gone. He’s here with you in spirit.” 

Their little Izuku was a perfect child: slept well throughout the night, quietly entertained himself if he woke without Inko there to tend to him, and never really cried without reason. Even now, as hungry as he is from having missed a bottle due to an unusually long nap, Izuku was happily babbling to himself in the living room.

“Here we go! Perfect little bottle for a perfect little baby!” Almost as soon as she had picked Izuku up from the playpen and sat down to feed him, the phone back in the kitchen began to ring. 

Inko knew who it was; she had been fighting with the insurance company for months over Hisashi’s disappearance. His Villainy and Suspicious Activity Insurance would allow her to put off working for a bit to raise Izuku, except they had decided he had simply walked out on his wife, rather than being kidnapped or otherwise prevented from returning to them. As if Hisashi would _choose_ to abandon the baby they had wanted for so long.

The phone continued to ring as Izuku’s face began to scrunch up. He always had such an adorable reaction to noises he couldn’t see. She really did need to take that call, their office was closing soon and maybe they’d have good news for her this time. “Okay sweetie,” Izuku’s big eyes looked away from his bottle to his mother. “I have to put you down for just a second and answer the phone. Is that alright?” She propped him up on some pillows on the couch and set the bottle on the table. It wasn’t completely safe to leave him like this, but she’d be quick and nearby in the kitchen; nothing would happen to him. 

An annoying fifteen minutes of arguing with the worst customer service representative later, Inko hung up the phone and enjoyed the quiet, finally free of legal jargon and empty platitudes. They refused her claim for the third and final time, barring future evidence of villainous or otherwise suspicious activity. As the silence continued on, she realized she should be hearing something from her still-hungry child. 

Inko rushed back into the living room, only to stop in shock at the sight of Izuku chugging along on his bottle. Which had been left on the table. And Izuku hadn’t moved from his propped up position. But he had his bottle and was almost finished with it. “Izuku?” She plucked him up from the couch and took the bottle before moving to burp him. As she patted his back, she circled slowly, checking for anyone else in the apartment. There was no one there that would have given him the bottle. ‘Maybe he was crying, I didn’t hear, and a neighbor came in and fed him?’ She checked the door: locked tight. 

Inko returned to the couch and brought Izuku down to her lap, the baby babbling excitedly at her. She closed her eyes and breathed slowly to try to expel the adrenaline still pumping through her at the thought of a stranger being in her home. Her overactive imagination had always played mind games with her and growing up she’d learned to just breathe through the panic clawing at her chest. She’d have to check the whole apartment to extinguish it all, but for now, just holding her baby was enough. 

The babbling grew quiet before long and Inko opened her eyes to see Izuku eyeing the bottle on the table where she’d thrown it in her haste to pick him up. Seeing him concentrating so long was new; he was growing so fast! Soon he’d be sitting up on his own, then crawling, walking, talking, and friends, and school, and _leaving her alone_ —

Movement out of the corner of her eye broke Inko out of the frantic mess her thoughts had become. Izuku was reaching out towards the table with clumsy little grabby hands while staring at the bottle that had slowly begun to jerk and move towards him. She watched with mounting awe as the bottle left the table completely and floated into Izuku’s hands. The baby shoved the nipple into his mouth the moment he touched it and his eyes lost focus as he went back to eating.

Izuku had a quirk! Had her quirk! Had her quirk at six months! Inko began to cry at how advanced her perfect little baby was, wishing his father had been here to celebrate with her. 

The rest of the day was spent with Inko and Izuku playing with their quirks, taking turns pulling a soft rabbit toy back and forth through the air. It seemed like Izuku needed to be able to see the toy in order to pull it towards him, as any time she held it too far for his little eyes to focus on, he cried when his grabby hands didn’t work. 

It was during his bedtime routine that Inko discovered another facet of his quirk. She was bathing Izuku, who was entertaining himself with the ripples in the water, when the tap slowly squeaked on. Carefully holding onto the wriggling baby, she reached over and closed the tap. Only for it to immediately turn on again, much to Izuku’s entertainment. The baby began to giggle and splash about in the ripples. Inko again leaned over and closed the tap, this time watching her son. Izuku looked hard at the handle of the tap, his eyes focusing in a way that had been absent earlier, and before long, the tap was slowly turning on again. 

“Oh you silly boy, you’re supposed to be getting clean in here, not pranking your mother!” Izuku laughed wildly as Inko tickled his sides before lifting him out of the bath. He continued to giggle throughout the remainder of his bedtime routine, getting especially amused when the two held an aerial battle over the bottle of lotion. Inko slept well that night, dreaming of his adorable giggling and the person her perfect little son would grow to be.

A few days later, Izuku’s pediatrician officially registered his quirk as Small Object Manipulation.


	3. Small Object Mimic

Midoriya Izuku   
Age: 4 years  
Birthday: 7/15  
Height: 98cm  
Quirk: Small Object Manipulation Small Object Mimic—Emitter classification quirk that allows him to transform his body into small objects and manipulate them at will. Mimic is limited to objects roughly his size or smaller. Time limit is unknown. Activated at 4 years. 

Proper documentation procedure was not followed by quirk assessor. File deleted. 

“Izuuukuuu it’s nap time, not play time. Where are you?” They played this game every afternoon: as nap time got closer, Izuku would find somewhere to hide. He was a delightful child; always so happy to explore, utterly incapable of not shoving himself into any crevice he could fit, and quite content to sit silently in one place until something else caught his attention. Izuku was exhaustingly good at hide and seek and only had one weakness. 

“Izuuukuuuu...Mini Might is so tired. But he can’t nap without you. Will you leave this poor hero to toss and turn alone?” Inko carried his favorite plush All Might around the apartment with her while searching. 

A small giggle answered her from across the apartment. 

“And a tired Mini Might could never defeat The Masters of Evil! Will you leave him to their vicious mercies? Or will you give him the cuddle power needed to defeat them?” 

More giggling, but she could clearly tell it was coming from the living room this time.

“You had better not be playing with the step stool!” Inko hurried into the room to make sure Izuku wasn’t attempting to open the balcony doors again. Her child seemed as obsessed with being as close to the sky as possible as he was with All Might. 

The step stool was the only occupant of the room. “Izuku?” Silence answered her as she walked around the room. “Izuku, you’re starting to worry me.” Movement caught her eye as the stool jerked to the side on its own. “Come out now!” Inko screamed as the stool warped and a black mass shot towards her. 

“Momma! Don’t cry! Cuz I am here!”

—————————

“Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, Doctor. I didn’t think his pediatrician could help. We needed to see a quirk counseling certified physician.” Inko smoothed out her skirt in an effort to calm her nerves. Izuku was oblivious to the adults and happily played with his favorite All Might toy. Adults took everything far too seriously in his opinion. 

Dr. Tsubasa turned away from his computer to face the two. “Your call to my office was quite frantic, Mrs. Midoriya. What seems to be your concern?”

“It might sound a bit out there, but, well,” Inko hesitated with how to word her issue. “Do you need me to tell you about Izuku and his quirk?”

Tsubasa shifted back to his computer and clicked through a few files. “I was able to contact the pediatrics office and they sent over his full health records before you arrived, so please, just explain to me what's wrong.”

“He got another one, another quirk,” Inko spit out. 

Tsubasa turned back to the duo. “I’m sorry, could please you repeat that? I want to make sure I understand completely.”

“I said my son seems to have another quirk.”

“Yes, that is what I thought you said.” The doctor took a moment to take a sip of his coffee. "It is also what you told my secretary, but I wanted to be sure of what I was dealing with here."

"What do you mean by 'dealing with' Doctor?" Inko questioned. She didn't care for his tone.

“A child exhibiting another quirk is preposterous. People do not have more than one quirk.” He punctuated his words with the sharp click of his cup hitting the desk. 

Inko just stared at him in shock. “Doctor please. His quirk is remote manipulation. And he turned himself into a stool!” 

He leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers nonchalantly. “Mrs. Midoriya, you sound stressed. If a stool was moved from its place, he must have moved it while you were looking away. Children are prone to mischief at this age.” 

“Doctor please, you have to believe me!” Inko cut in. 

“Or perhaps you are stressed and moved the stool yourself and then forgot,” he bulldozed over her. “I received your medical records as well. Your most recent screening visit showed some worrying signs: higher blood pressure, increased cortisol levels, not to mention your last anxiety screening...” He took another sip of his coffee. 

Inko looked at him like she had been slapped. “My records? Why-what-that’s not important now. You’re not listening to me!” 

“A mother living alone, a single income household in a higher poverty area, I recognize that you are under immense pressure, both financially and socially. But please, lying won’t ease that pressure, the truth will set you free.”

“Why are you ignoring what I’m saying?!”

“Because what you are saying is nonsense!” The doctor slammed down his cup. “Your son cannot have more than the quirk he was born with!” As a premier quirk researcher he’d seen cases like this before. Factitious Quirk Imposed on Another. FQIA cases had skyrocketed as quirks became more abundant, as they became more important to life, and as the quirkless rate dropped each generation. Parents, usually fathers, fabricated or manipulated quirks for their children in order to gain attention for themselves. FQIA cases were usually uncovered either when a child is brought in for official quirk registration or when their own quirk manifests and the earlier lies become obvious. 

“To be frank, I find his history to be completely ridiculous. Show me this Remote Manipulation! Even if he had a quirk, I have my doubts about it showing up that early! I do wonder if it was _your quirk_ that his previous doctor saw. A poor mother looking to cash in on a daytime talk show. Well I won’t allow you to drag my good name into it!”

Inko could only stare in confusion at the ranting man. “‘If he had a quirk’ what are you even talking about?”

“His foot!” Tsubasa suddenly stood and pointed at an X-ray above his desk. “His foot! The boy has two joints in his pinky toe!”

“You’re not making any sense doctor.”

“Humans have no need for two joints in the pinky toe and those without the joint are the next stage of evolution! Izuku has no quirk! None at all!” He punctuated each statement with a jab to the X-ray. 

Inko had finally heard enough of this nonsense. “Coming here was a mistake...I’ll just book an appointment with someone else.” She grabbed her purse and turned, freezing at Izuku’s empty stool.

“Oh no you won’t!” Dr. Tsubasa ignored the woman and grabbed his coffee for another drink. “Lying on government registration papers is a crime you know!” Oddly enough, the cup was now empty. “I’m going to tell every counselor I know to look out for a quirkless kid and his crazy mother.”

Suddenly, he found his coffee cup twisting out of his grip and a tiny fist punching his face. “Don’t call my mom crazy!” Above him stood Izuku, looking far more angry than a four year old should be capable of. 

Tsubasa could only stare in shock from the floor. “Wh-what?” 

“I have a quirk!” Izuku yelled, and lifted his hand toward the desk. A coffee cup came flying towards him, and then suddenly away, smashing on the far wall. As the raging child stood above him, Izuku’s eyes began to glow white. 

Inko ran to her child, pulling him into a hug and away from the man on the floor. “Izuku, honey, no, remember we talked about this, calm down. Please, you don’t want to scare mommy right?” 

“But his foot...this makes no sense! Two joints!” 

Inko lifted her son into her arms and backed away, towards the door. “Don’t contact us again! Or I’ll-I’ll call the police!” She turned around and practically ran through the door. 

Tsubasa could still see the white eyes glaring back at him over her shoulder. 

“This...this makes no sense! He has no quirk!” He eyed the splattered remains of his drink on the wall as he pulled himself up and to his computer. “I am not wrong about this!” 

“I will not be wrong about this!” he repeats as he deletes every record of the encounter from his system. Those glowing eyes haunted him the entire time.


	4. Shift Location

Midoriya Izuku    
Age: 9 years   
Birthday: 7/15   
Height: 130cm   
Quirk: Small Object Manipulation Small Object Mimic Shift Location—Emitter classification quirk that allows him to rapidly change position and leave behind an etheric decoy. Shift Location is limited to areas within clear eyesight. Maximum distance is unknown. Activated at 9 years. 

Proper documentation procedure not found. The file is corrupt and cannot be opened.

Empty. Hungry. Humans. Energy. Food. Caught. Trapped. Alone. Help. HelphelphelphelpHELPHELPHELP   
"Did someone make you? Were you made for something?" 

Izuku had been missing for nine days and his mother was absolutely devastated. She had been worried the first day, when they had been out shopping and Inko turned into a store and hadn’t realized her son wasn’t right beside her until it was time to leave. Izuku was prone to wandering off, pulled away by whatever quirk had caught his attention. 

Trapped. Alone. Help. Closer. Excitement. Not alone.    
"Who are you?"

Izuku had been missing for two days. The police had no leads to where he could have gone. Pulling the store’s video led nowhere; her son could be seen looking to the side, as if someone called his name, and then he simply walked away. Izuku continued to walk calmly down the street, without any sign of duress, until he turned into an alleyway where the cameras lost sight of him. 

_I just wanted to help. Why is it so cold? Why do they want so much blood? I want my mom. At least I’m not alone._   
**_Don't let them do this to you_**

Izuku had been missing for three days. Inko refuses to lose hope, even as the officers involved in the case began dodging her calls. Without any signs of violence, ransom calls, or sightings of Izuku, they have nothing else to do but keep an eye out. Other, more substantial threats were constantly being added to their workload. And without a clear villain threat heroes were rarely involved in missing persons cases. She can’t even find the will within herself to be angry about it. 

Alone. But not alone. Other nearby. Not alone. Still hungry. Other hungry. 

Izuku had been missing for four days. Inko could feel the panic creeping in on her brain in the moments of silence between tasks. Searching the neighborhood, hanging missing persons flyers, combing through local message boards, badgering the police, and dodging her bosses takes up her whole day. It leaves her no time to breathe but also no time to think. No time to despair. No time to miss her son who had vanished just like her husband and she doesn’t think she can handle it this time, she had to keep moving, keep trying, but she’s alone without them and how could she go on—Her phone ringing broke Inko out of her sinking thoughts. Time to go hang more flyers. 

Tank. Gas. Asleep. Tests. Blood. Gas. Asleep. Awake. Tank. Hungry. Gas. Asleep.    
_ I want to go home.  _   
**_You're not what they say you are_ **

Izuku had been missing five days. The Bakugou family were a godsend. Mitsuki had been banned from the police department and threatened with assault charges for her absolutely vicious commentary on the officers’ ability to do their jobs. Masaru’s connections as a major player in Musutafu’s largest accounting firm allowed him to distribute flyers in businesses that Inko hadn’t been able to get to. His soft spoken voice and calm demeanor hid his own ability to cruelly rip into anyone that dared to insinuate that his son’s best friend was gone for good. Katsuki had to be taken out of school before he could be suspended for fighting. That was fine by him. He’d rather wait with Aunty Inko at home anyway. 

Awake. Tank. Asleep. Awake. Tank. Asleep. Awake. Tank. Asleep.    
_ I want my mom. I want my friend back. _

Izuku had been missing six days when Inko could no longer gather up the energy needed to leave the apartment anymore. 

Alone.  _ Help me. _ Alone.  _ Please. _ Alone.  _ Someone. _ Alone.  _ Help. _

Izuku had been missing seven days and Inko couldn’t find it in her to get off the couch. This is where she awoke to find her perfect little baby sleeping on her chest nine years ago and this is where she would stay until he came home. 

Trapped. Alone. Hungry. Alone.  _ Help _ . Alone. Crying. Alone. Screaming. Alone. 

Izuku had been missing eight days and Inko. Just. Couldn’t. Anymore. She couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t exist in a world where her son was gone and she was alone. 

Clanking. Noise. Voices. Help!  _ Pain.  _ **_Kill them_ ** Fearfearfear. Out!

“I want to go home.” Away. Safe. 

Izuku had been missing for nine days when his devastated mother was startled awake on the couch by a loud crash against her front door. “Hello? Is someone there?” 

A warbling cry of “Mom...” answered her from the other side. Inko was off the couch and running to the door without a thought. She threw it open and caught her baby as he fell from being propped up against the doorframe.

“Mom!” 

“Oh Izuku!” Inko didn’t even bother closing the door. She just held on to her son as they both cried in the entryway. “Shh...Everything is going to be okay.” They sat in the entryway the rest of the night, holding each other tight and crying their sorrows away. Izuku was finally home.

—————————————————

It had been weeks since his disappearance and reappearance and Izuku was still not ready to think about what had happened to him.  _ I can’t remember anyway, why bother dwelling on it? _ Izuku was happy to move on. His mother was happy to move on. The police were happy to move on from the vitriolic harassment that had become the Bakugou family pastime. Katsuki was the only one that seemed unable to let it go.

“How can you just fuckin’ forget?!” They were hanging out in the Bakugous’ spacious backyard, but it was starting to feel more like an interrogation room than the police precinct had. 

“I can’t remember Kacchan. Nothing to do about it.”

“And you’re just fine with that?!” Katsuki was in his face as usual, pushing for answers that Izuku didn’t have, didn’t want to think about. 

“I can’t change anything, so yeah, I’m fine with it.” He wasn’t fine with it. But any time his mind drifted back to those days, he felt inexplicable panic. No memories ever came from it, just a deep sense of claustrophobia and being trapped and hungry and alonealonealonealone.

“That’s fuckin’ bullshit!” Katsuki grabbed at him but Izuku, used to his tendency to try to literally shake sense into people, stepped back. “We’re gonna be heroes! Changing things and savin’ people are what we fuckin’ do!”

“I don’t need saving Kacchan, I’m home now, I’m fine. I’m sorry I worried everyone so much.” He wasn’t fine. He didn’t want to talk about this. He just wanted to move on, leave it behind. 

“Hah?! Worried?! Your mom was a mess!” Izuku knows it. He doesn’t need anyone reminding him. But if he can just keep pretending to be okay, then she can feel better about pretending to be okay, and everyone can just move on from this. He just wanted to get away. Away from the nonexistent memories. Away from the panic. Away from now, somehow jump into the future, where he can stop pretending to be fine and just  _ actually _ be fine. “Stop fuckin’ ignoring me!”

A hand clamped down on to his arm and a band of dread clamped on to his heart. **_They're_** **_lying to you_** He needed out, awayawayaway—And then he was. Izuku came back into the present suddenly as he slammed face-first into the brick of the privacy wall that surrounded the backyard. From the ground, he could see Katsuki staring in shock at him from yards away, his hand still stretched from where he had grabbed his arm. A shadowy humanoid wisp stood between them. 

“What the fuck.” 

“What the fuck,” Izuku echoed, still crumbled against the wall, as the wisp vanished into purple-black static and then nothingness. 


	5. Epilogue

Midoriya Izuku  
Age: 15 years  
Birthday: 7/15  
Height: 166cm  
Quirk: Shift—Emitter classification quirk that allows him to shift his form, his position, or the position of an object within clear eyesight. Object manipulation radius and time limit is unknown. Object mimic size and time limit is unknown. Shift distance and cool-down time is unknown. Activation time is unknown.

  
Proper documentation procedure completed and submitted by U.A. High School.

  
This file is locked. No further changes will be accepted.


End file.
